A BURGLAR may have crept into a Darlington primary school yesterday - but staff were far from worried.

For Burglar Bill was joined by the Fat Controller, Flat Stanley and other characters for St Augustine's celebration of the tenth World Book Day.

All the school's pupils and teachers came in character to celebrate the tenth World Book Day. They were joined by Park East councillor Cyndi Hughes, who dressed as Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

St Augustine's headteacher Catherine Crawford came as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz - complete with red shoes.

She said: "We try to do something every World Book Day, and, as it's the tenth anniversary, we thought we'd have a dress-up."

Among the characters were Samantha Adams, ten, who came as Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean, James Frank, eight, who came as Flat Stanley, James Watson, seven, who was Dr Seuss's Cat in the Hat, Oliver Tatt, five, who was the Fat Controller, Daisy Appleton, four, who came as Spidergirl, Diarmuid Doran, five, who was the Jolly Postman, and Victoria Gosiewski, four, who came as a character from a Polish story.

Coun Hughes has two children at St Augustine's, and stayed up on Wednesday night to make costumes for Frodo, from Lord of the Rings, and Laura Ingalls, from Little House on the Prairie.